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This study explores the symbolic functions of musical instruments in the Longhuahui ritual of Chituhua Village, Shanxi Province, China. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted during the Spring Festival period from 2024 to 2025, the research draws on participant observation and semi-structured interviews, focusing on ritual instruments such as the Guanzi, sheng, Yunluo, Shougu, Muyu, and Cha. Employing Steven Feld’s theory of sonic symbolism, the study examines how sound operates as a culturally constructed system of meaning and a mode of engaging with the world. In the context of the Longhuahui ritual, these instruments are not only used for musical performance; their sounds symbolize sacred actions such as spirit invocation, exorcism, and spatial purification. As sonic agents, they serve to mediate between humans and deities, activate collective memory, and reaffirm cosmological order. Through their timbral qualities, rhythmic patterns, and spatial deployment, these instruments help construct a ritual soundscape that conveys local religious values and embodies spiritual knowledge through the body. The study argues that, within the Longhuahui, ritual instruments are central carriers of sonic meaning, and listening itself becomes a way of participating in and reproducing ritual knowledge. This research contributes to a deeper ethnomusicological understanding of the relationship between sound, belief, and cultural continuity.
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